Objective: To get an overview of the fatality and secular trend of bloodstream infection (BSI) during hospitalization in China.
Methods: Papers published between 1990 and Aug. 2008 on the core journals included by Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and VIP Chinese Periodical Database were systematically searched. Studies providing data of BSI fatality during hospitalization with a non-comparative, observational design were included. Meta-analysis was done using the generic inverse variance model.
Results: Overall, 72 studies were included for this analysis. The weighted BSI fatality in-hospital based on them was 28.7% (95%CI: 27.2%-30.3%), with substantial differences between study and heterogeneity. For BSI cases from across all departments of hospitals, the weighed fatality was 20.7% (95%CI: 17.8%-24.0%). In the departments of burn, hematology and/or malignant tumors, and ICU, BSI fatalities were even higher, but were relatively low among BSI cases from neonatal wards, and patients with liver diseases, or diabetes mellitus. Fatality of hospital acquired BSI (HA-BSIs, 26.8%, 95%CI: 22.4%-32.0%) was significantly higher than that of community acquired BSI (CA-BSIs). For the past decades, BSI fatality has declined in various kinds of inpatients.
Conclusion: BSI fatality during hospitalization was at a high level in China, but with a downward trend over the past decades.